Drown
by GwinMeldron
Summary: Terence, Tumnus and Lucy go out boating.


Unicorn-skydancer08 and I were talking one day and Mel came up with the idea to use the same plot but write it our own ways. It was a lot of fun and I had a blast writing this!

Terence belongs to unicorn-skydancer08.

* * *

Terence was standing, gazing out over the lake. It was a lake he had found a few weeks ago, and had spent hours swimming in. It was a good sized lake, not exceedingly large but no puddle either. Wanting to share the excitement with his friends, he had arranged for them to go boating and was now waiting for Lucy to show up. Tumnus stood a few feet away, worry clearly written on his face. Turning his gaze toward the castle, Terence smiled when he saw the young queen making her way across the grass.

"Here comes Lucy." He said to Tumnus, who turned to watch the love of his life approach. Terence noticed his mate didn't smile when he saw Lucy, and Terence wondered why. Sidling over to the faun, he asked,

"You all right Tumnus?"

Tumnus jolted, as if he had been day-dreaming. "Oh, ah, I'm fine."

"Are you nervous?"

Tumnus hesitated before answering. Then, letting out a short, clipped laugh, he said, "I can't lie to you, I'm shaking in my fur."

Terence reached over and patted his friend on the back. "It'll be all right, you are going to have fun. Just wait and see."

Tumnus shook his head, brown curls flying. "You do know I can't swim, right?"

Terence already knew this, and replied, "You don't have to swim."

"I'm not going to." Tumnus said, conforming his fear of the water.

"Hello you two." Said Lucy, who was now only a few feet away.

"Lucy, took you long enough." Terence teased.

The young woman smiled."I figured I'd allow you two enough time to get the boat down here."

"We had plenty of time, don't worry about that." Terence said as he glanced at the boat lying on it's side in the grass. The young man looked back to Lucy and saw she was wearing a pink swimming suit with a light blue bathing robe over the suit.

"Swimming?" Asked Tumnus as he moved closer.

"Perhaps." Lucy replied. "Terence said something about possibly swimming, and with how hot it is, the cool water would be welcome."

Tumnus nodded, the butterflies in his stomach dancing with each other. Not wanting to ruin the outing for his friends, he forced a smile to his face and said, 'Well, if we're going to do this, then let's do it."

Terence looked at him, surprised by the faun's sudden change in attitude. "Yes, let's. Come on mate, help get the boat in the water."

Terence went to the front of the boat, while Tumnus headed to the back and together they moved the craft across the grass until it was floating in a few inches of water.

"Tumnus, hold it steady. Lucy, climb in." Terence directed, moving to the side of the boat. Lucy moved forward, and with the help of Terence, climbed into the boat. She sat down on one of the benches and grasped the sides with her hands.

"You next Tumnus."

"All right." Said the faun as he pushed his body up over the side of the boat. Settling down beside Lucy, he put his arm around her, more to reassure himself than anything. Swinging his leg up over the edge, Terence landed between the two benches, causing the boat to rock wildly.

"Terence careful." Tumnus called out in alarm.

"It's all right, we're floating in two inches of water."

"Sorry, I over-reacted."

Lucy patted the faun's hand, saying, "It's all right honey."

Tumnus nodded, "I'm trying not to ruin this for you two." He admitted. Terence got up off the bottom of the boat and sat down on the second bench. Grabbing the oars resting beneath the bench, he stuck them in the water and began to row. His strong arms caused the oars to slice through the water.

Tumnus glanced uneasily over the side of the boat, into the blue water but then was distracted when Lucy asked, "Tumnus, did you get the picnic basket?"

Tumnus leaned down and looked under his seat and after eyeing the basket, replied, "Yeah, it's there."

Lucy smiled. "Good."

Once they reached the middle of the lake, Terence stopped rowing and placed the oars back on the bottom of the boat. Leaning back, he turned his face towards the sun, soaking in it's warmth. His eyes were closed when Tumnus spoke to him.

"Hey Terence?"

"Yeah?" He said, not moving an inch.

"How deep is this lake?"

"Uhm, it's pretty deep. But don't let that worry you Tumnus, you're perfectly safe in the boat." He hoped to reassure his friend.

"It's not inside the boat that I'm worried about." Tumnus muttered.

"Tumnus, do you want to eat something?" Lucy asked as she reached for the picnic basket. Opening it up, she pulled out a couple wine glasses and a bottle of apple cider.

Tumnus nodded. "I could eat something."

"Terence, you?"

"No thank you Lucy."

"All right."

Lucy opened the cider bottle and poured some of the bubbly liquid into the glasses. Handing one of the glasses to Tumnus, Lucy took a sip from her own and murmured, "Apple cider is my favorite."

Tumnus allowed a small smile to take over his face. "Mine too."

As Tumnus sat cuddled next to Lucy, drinking cider, he forgot the fact that they were floating on deep water. The minutes passed by quickly, and the air was filled with the sounds of the laughter. Terence sat up straight and watched his two best friends in amusement. Their laughter brought a smile to own face, for there was nothing he loved more than seeing his friends happy.

Everything happened too fast, even for Terence whose reflexes were lightning quick. Having once been a unicorn, he was graceful and sure-footed, even as a man.

Lucy went to wrap her arms around Tumnus in a hug, laughing as she did so, and accidentally dropped her glass of cider into the water. Tumnus lunged for the glass, saying, "I'll get it."

Before he knew it, he had fallen in the water.

"Tumnus!" Lucy shouted, as she tried to grab him.

As Tumnus hit the water, terror flooded his mind. As he sank under, he flailed his arms, and kicked his feet, desperately trying to make his way to the surface. But instead of going up, he just sank down even farther.

Not having had much time to gather air before falling in the water, Tumnus could already feel what little air he did have leaving him. Looking up he could see the surface of the lake, the colors gold and blue blending together. Then, he could see Terence in the water beside him, having dived in. Reaching towards Terence with one hand, he waited. The silver haired youth swam closer and taking the faun's hand, swam upwards with him. When they surfaced, Tumnus gasped for air, his thoughts a lot more scrambled than they were when he was under the water. Terence pulled him toward the bank, and then standing up, he dragged his friend out of the water until he was lying in the grass. Terence fell to his knees beside Tumnus and gathered the faun in his arms saying, "I'm so sorry mate, I should never have forced you to go out on the water. I'm so sorry."

Tumnus, once he quit coughing, replied, "No Terence, it's not your fault."

"Are you all right?" Called Lucy form the boat.

Tumnus propped himself up with an elbow and looked at her. When he saw her watching him anxiously, he felt his heart swell with love for her.

"I'm fine!" He called back.

Lying back down, his head in Terence's lap, he placed a hand to his chest, feeling his rapid heart-beat.

"You sure you're all right?" Questioned Terence. He gazed worriedly down at Tumnus, waiting for an answer.

"I'm sure. I'm just glad you were there to save me."

"My pleasure mate." Terence said, grinning.

Sitting up, Tumnus said, "Now go get my girl before she drifts out to sea."

Terence glanced at him, a bemused twinkle in his eyes. "You do realize that's a lake, and not the sea."

"I'm aware of that, yes." Terence said, chuckling.

"Good, just checking." Terence stood up and jogged to the edge of the lake, then wading out until the water was up to his waist he gracefully swam to the boat and then somehow managed to push it to shore. As soon as the boat was close enough to the bank for Lucy to get out, she did so, and splashed her way through the water. Running over the grass, she knelt by Tumnus and took his hand.

"My dear Tumnus." She said. "I was so scared."

Tumnus put his arms around Lucy, drawing her close, and whispering in her ear, "I know you were, but I'm all right now."

Terence leaned over and helped Tumnus get up off the ground, saying, "Come on, let's go inside. I doubt you want to get back in the boat."

"You're right there." The faun said, standing up.

Lucy moved to his side and placed her arm around Tumnus' wet waist. Terence went to the boat and quickly drug it up onto the grass, disabling it from floating away from the bank. Pulling the picnic basket out from the boat, he turned and followed Tumnus and Lucy toward the castle. As he looked at Tumnus' wet fur, water dripping from his ears, Terence could feel his heart racing as he thought how close he had been to losing his best friend. And Lucy, she would have lost the love of her life. Terence felt it was his fault, it had been his idea to go boating in the first place.

Terence walked with his eyes on the ground, not paying attention to what was going on around him. When he heard Tumnus say his name, he jumped in surprise, and looked up to see Tumnus was walking beside him.

"Hey Terence." The faun said.

"Hey Tumnus." Replied Terence.

Tumnus could hear the guilt in his mate's voice. "Don't feel bad Terence, it wasn't your fault. I forgot I was on the water when I tried to get that glass."

"I just..." Terence sighed. "I shouldn't have forced you to go boating."

Tumnus shook his head, "No, I had a choice, I could have not gone. I didn't want to ruin it for you and Lucy."

Terence smiled gently, "I think next time we'll do something a bit safer."

The faun laughed at this and said, "Yes, like sit in the library and discuss the weather."

Lucy, walking a few feet ahead, heard their laughing and turned around, waiting for them to catch up with her. When they reached her, Tumnus took her hand, moving so that he was walking in between Terence and Lucy.

"Thanks you two." He said, the gratefulness in his voice speaking louder than his own words.

Lucy squeezed the faun's hand, while Terence nodded in his calm way. "I'm just glad you're all right mate."

"Me too Terence, me too." Replied Tumnus.


End file.
